1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise assisting instrument and more specifically to an exercise assisting instrument that fits to use assisting knee-bending exercise of legs and knees or exercise of waist and arms.
2. Description of Related Art
In Japan, an aging ratio of population is rapidly increasing, and currently one person per six people is over 65 years old. Generally many of elder people have some kinds of illness, especially rate of elder people suffering from arthritis is high. Further, the more the age is advanced, the worse legs and knees or waist and arms are and become disabled in every day life gradually. And they stop exercising because of disability, and the state of the malfunction progresses forming a vicious circle. To solve the problem, a variety of exercise assisting instrument have been developed conventionally.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2000-70405 discloses one of exercise instrument for leg exercise (refer to Japanese Patent Kokai No. 1). The invention defined in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 1 is an exercise instrument that makes a user able to exercise legs as effectively as if the user does walking exercise without putting his/her weight on his/her legs and waist. The user lies on his/her back on a frame, the angle of which can be changed, hangs both legs on a leg-hanging-part slung by means of pulley(s), and moves legs hung on the leg-hanging-part up and down while his/her body is kept lied down, so he/she may exercise his/her legs without putting his/her weight on his/her legs.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Kokai No. Hei 10-5279 discloses an invention of a standing up assisting instrument (refer to Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2). The invention defined in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2 is the invention of a standing up assisting instrument used in rehabilitation for a handicapped person who cannot stand up, and it helps a user stand up by oneself safely. The user fixes his/her lower body by buttocks supporting part and longitudinal ditch formed mat into which his/her knees are fit, and becomes able to stand upright by oneself, by supporting upper body by cylindrical mat on which arms lean. And, in this state, the user bends his/her knees, while he/she winds up traction line by backward traction device set on the standing up assisting instrument, and at the same time by up and down movement of the buttocks supporting part operating together with expansion and contraction of lifting and rotating arms connected to the traction line.
However, the exercise instrument of the invention defined in Patent Publication No. 1 does not function if the user cannot raise his/her legs by oneself so the users are limited to those who can raise their legs by themselves. Further, the user lies on his/her back and exercises only his/her legs so there exists a problem in which he/she may exercise only his/her legs and cannot exercise the whole body.
Moreover, in the invention defined in Patent Publication No. 2, the user set in designated position can do knee-bending exercise automatically by turning on an electric machine with the lifting and rotating arms and the electric machine. But, the user cannot exercise by his/her intention, so the user cannot have an intention of training by oneself and cannot have fun. Further, there are problems in which using electric machine causes a big noise and vibrations, and the user may have anxiety about having malfunction of the machine.
Therefore, the present invention solves the problems mentioned above, and aims to provide an exercise assisting instrument which a user may easily and safely do knee-bending exercise corresponding to his/her respective physical strength. To put it concretely, the invention aims to provide the exercise assisting instrument that may lighten burdens imposed on the user's legs, knees and so on while the user can do the knee-bending exercise repeatedly from any position corresponding to the user's respective physical strength. Furthermore, even at a time the user's physical strength goes to the limit and suddenly his/her knees and waist becomes unsteady and the user cannot help squatting down, to prevent bone-breaking accident, the present invention aims to provide the exercise assisting instrument having a chair which moves upward and downward always in a state coming into contact with his/her buttocks so that the user may sit down on the chair from any position while he/she does the knee-bending exercise. The user may sit down on the chair as he/she lean on it and may go down to the lowest point slowly and safely with aid of upward force affecting the chair. Further, the present invention aims to provide the exercise assisting instrument of simple structure and low production cost because no need of power source from outside.